Terrestrial broadcast market exchange network platform and broadcast augmentation channels for hybrid broadcasting in the internet age

ABSTRACT

A new television broadcast model called a Broadcast Market Exchange (BMX) eliminates the inefficiency in spectrum usage, providing maximum flexibility in delivering content through either VHF (for fixed location receiving devices) or UHF (optimized for mobile receiving devices) transmission/propagation. In conjunction with the BMX, a wireless communications system architecture is provided to enable a broadcast augmentation channel. The augmentation channel provides supplementation of the Quality of Service (QoS) of a one way User Datagram Protocol (UDP) delivery environment. The augmentation channel may be comprised of one or more physical delivery mechanisms (wired or wireless), but can be effectively unified for increasing QoS and or scalable levels of service (additional essence) to improve the user experience.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND CLAIM FOR PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of copending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/092,993 filed on Nov. 28, 2013, which claims priority toprovisional application Ser. No. 61/730,596 filed Nov. 28, 2012 andprovisional application Ser. No. 61/882,700 filed Sep. 26, 2013, thecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to terrestrial televisionbroadcast networks, and in particular relates to a new paradigm forterrestrial broadcasting in the Internet Age.

The United States had the honor of being the first country to developand adopt a Digital TV system. In fact when the United States embarkedon exploring the opportunities for an “Advanced Television” standard,the world was still largely analog. Since that time, however, theadvances in technology and the maturing of the Internet have presentedserious challenges to the continued competitiveness and relevance oftraditional terrestrial broadcasting in the 21st century.

Today many countries have already adopted and even deployed a secondgeneration terrestrial DTV standard. None of these are IP Networkcentric or aware in nature, and little or no thought was given tointerworking with other IP based communication networks. Theyeffectively exist as islands in the internet age. The ATSC is nowconsidering a non-backwardly compatible next generation DTV Standard,ATSC 3.0. ATSC's 8-VSB (A/53), the first generation modulation methodused for broadcast in the ATSC digital television standard, ismonolithic in purpose and very inflexible, therefore driving anon-backwardly compatible solution being sought. Today the art of ‘beingdigital’ is the norm and is expected by consumers, the PC is beingdisplaced by computing tablets and smartphone devices attached to aworld-wide IP network of cloud servers that are always connected. Thepresent inventors believe that a real opportunity exists to create a newparadigm that is truly useful for the continued existence of terrestrialbroadcasting in the Internet Age.

Terrestrial broadcasting today is a “one-shot” event with a signaltransmitted from an isolated island (non IP Network aware) transmitterthat emits a radio wave with hopes that the signal will be receivedsomewhere inside a geographically limited coverage area and the contentviewed by someone. In the current broadcast model (last 60 years), abroadcaster occupies an entire broadcast channel (e.g., 6 MHz in theUSA) for its exclusive use 24.times.7 even though, for many TV stations,a small number of programs generate the majority of revenue and profitusing the current monolithic standard. The viewing tally (i.e. ratings)is done statistically with insignificant numerical data, innon-real-time and is reported to the broadcaster by an independententity sometime in the future (e.g. the next day). In the age of BigData, it is mission critical to have a deep knowledge of one's audienceand real-time analytics, which for instance drives targetedadvertisements and/or new forms of local news and engagingentertainment, etc. These are features commensurate with thecapabilities of the broadcast Virtualized IP Core network to bediscussed and are relevant in today's media content providerenvironment.

Some local broadcasters are dabbling with web sites and social medianetworks and even online streaming of content to augment and adapt tothe internet age, but largely this activity is independent of their coreeconomic drivers. But instead of this independent dabbling, what isreally needed is a focused “holistic” approach to the development of anew terrestrial DTV Standard and platform that closely integrates andharmonizes broadcasting and the Internet (Web). The objective of makingcontent easy to receive on multiple device types over various deliverychannels and physical ‘bearer’ layers and synchronously presented todayas native HTML5 elements (Video/Audio, etc.) of a web browser usingextensions to W3C web technology is essential. As well, the ability toevolve as these other delivery channels and physical ‘bearer’ layersevolve becomes essential. This requires changes to the traditionalbroadcast architecture which needs to include elements such as theinclusion of a virtualized IP Core network. To enable a cost-effective,consumer friendly and viable new eco-system, the virtualized IP Corenetwork may well become a shared entity of the broadcasters in a marketor region of the country. The IP Core network abstracts the complexityof the physical radio layer (which also can be shared efficiently) andenables broadcasters to remain totally independent (virtualized) andcompetitive but able to share in the advantages of a malleablevirtualized IP core network fabric and take a giant step forward as anindustry to offer services that are more consumer friendly. Nowadays,consumers do not care how content is delivered. Rather, consumers justwant to have easy and ubiquitous access to content on a variety ofdevices using technology that keeps pace with, and uses the same webtools as, the Internet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Terrestrial DTV technology and the network architecture as we know ittoday must change fundamentally and moreover be harmonized with avirtualized IP Core network (disclosed herein) for broadcasters toremain competitive, relevant and perhaps most importantly, to grow theirbusiness in the Internet Age. Some of the basic IP Core technology andconcepts underlying the present invention exists today and is mature andis responsible for driving the mobile 3GPP LTE broadband revolution inthe world today.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a new IP Core networkarchitecture entity herein termed a ‘Broadcast Market Exchange’ (BMX)eliminates possible inefficiencies in spectrum usage, providing maximumflexibility in delivering content through either the VHF broadcast band(more optimal for fixed location receiving devices) or the UHF broadcastband (optimized or more optimal for nomadic and or mobile receivingdevices). This allows most effective use of, and maximizes the realvalue and revenue potential of, the available broadcast spectrum forbroadcasters using the services of a new virtualized IP core networkunder control of the intelligence in a BMX entity.

The BMX entity (a node in the IP Core network) efficiently manages allbroadcast physical layer resources and liberates additional bandwidth ina spectrum pool it is managing for broadcasters in a market and orregion of country. A BMX market-driven mechanism (software algorithm) isused to schedule shared resources in the most efficient way. As only oneexample, broadcasters may choose to broadcast content during prime timehours, thus freeing up spectrum capacity in the spectrum exchange poolfor wholesale bit use by other broadcasters and or other users in amarket driven manner during daytime hours to generate additional revenueusing the BMX. The BMX entity effectively repacks (schedules resources)of the broadcast spectrum to deliver content efficiently for itsbroadcasters in the pool and allocates surplus spectrum for otherapplications, which could include applications such as 4G data offloadfor wireless carriers, non-real time data delivery, a content/datadelivery mechanism for non-broadcaster content providers, publicservices, OTT content owners, etc. The wholesale open market driven useof spectrum becomes possible.

Unlike spectrum repacking through a governmental regulatory agency suchas the FCC, that requires a long, drawn-out rulemaking process and thensome kind of regulatory enforcement, the centralized and coordinatedspectrum repacking (resource management) performed by the BMX is dynamicand market-driven. The proficiencies of the BMX real-time dynamicspectrum management is that highly valuable surplus spectrum isliberated and associated with a user in need of broadcast capacity in anopen market exchange.

From the user's perspective, the conventional notion of tuning in to aTV channel becomes irrelevant. What is essential is the discovery ofcontent. For example, by invoking an application “App” in a HTML5receiving device which utilizes low level signaling embedded dynamicallyin emitted RF signal by the IP Core network, the user is presented aninterface with a list of programming/content from which he/she canchoose without any reference to a fixed channel number. The dynamicallocation of spectrum resources for content delivery by the BMX entitymeans that the notion of the TV channel (fixed place in broadcast RFspectrum) over which a content stream is delivered may change from timeto time and virtualized (could be shifted to open bandwidth for anotherservices for example), including seamless handoff between channelsand/or between broadcast and broadband infrastructure. All this isabstracted and remains transparent to the user.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, and as a means ofexample, the latest in MPEG media encoding and MPEG Media Transport(MMT) may be used, including MPEG-H, formally known as ISO/IEC 23008under development by the ISO/IEC Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG).MMT is an application layer transport for media content that operatesover IP and is harmonized with W3C and HTML5 for media presentation inheterogeneous networks. HTML5 is the latest revision of HTML (Hyper TextMarkup Language), a markup language to present content on IP devicessuch as computers, tablets and cell phones. The goal of HTML5 is tosupport multimedia content in a browser environment without plugins thusmaking the platform more ubiquitous. HTML5 offers the promise ofreaching every potential viewer on every hardware platform withuniformly authored multimedia content, and without the need to developand support platform-specific apps and or plug-ins. The missing piece orproblem of MMT in a heterogeneous network comprised of a terrestrialbroadcast and broadband unicast channel (wire/wireless) is there mustalways be a unicast channel available to provide the essential MMTnetwork timing information based on a UTC timeline for mediapresentation under HTML5. The current unacceptable constraint is abroadcast only delivery channel may not be supported by MMT since it isdependent on unicast for timing.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a new MMT timingmechanism is introduced that uses only the broadcast terrestrial channelwith no dependency on an internet (Wi-Fi, LTE, etc.) connection at thereceiving device required to receive timed multimedia content under MMT.This brings much more freedom and flexibility by having a pureterrestrial broadcast only (TV anywhere) experience using MMT and W3Cweb tools for presentation.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, when a broadcastreceiving device has an internet (Wi-Fi, LTE, etc.) connection, a morerich content experience for the user can result under control of themanaged virtualized IP Core network to provide augmentation channeldata. The augmentation channel may be comprised of one or more physicaldelivery mechanisms (wired or wireless) in a heterogeneous networkenvironment that can be effectively unified for increasing QoS and orscalable levels of service (additional essence) to improve the userexperience.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, broadcast dataessence is pushed in a defined, controlled systematic fashion asdiscrete segments and broadcast under MMT. Data essence can also bepulled as discrete segments from a HTTP server under MPEG-DASH andcombined in the broadcast client of receiver under control of thebroadcaster IP Core network. This enables convergence of both broadcast(Push) and (Pull) on demand IP services seamlessly in a next genbroadcast platform in the internet age.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will become more readily understood from the detaileddescription provided hereinafter with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a Next Generation Broadcast Platform(NGBP) in accordance with one aspect of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the NGBP according to one possibleembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a Conceptual block diagram of the IP Core Network andBroadcast Market Exchange (BMX) concepts;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing OFDM physical layer time and frequencyresources in a broadcast;

FIG. 5 is a table showing an example of required NGBP OFDM parametersresulting in an integer number of symbols per frame;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of UHF Band spectrum sharing aggregation undercontrol of BMX in accordance with an aspect of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram that illustrates the major NGBP IP Core Networkentities to support broadcast and unicast services under BMX and IPCore;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the NGBP application layertransport protocol layers to provide heterogeneous network services;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the transmission side of a new methodfor serving or establishing UTC time clock in the receiver client usingonly the broadcast channel;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the client side aspects ofestablishing UTC time clock at the receiver client over only thebroadcast channel;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram to help illustrate the NGBP application layertransport timing mechanisms in a heterogeneous network;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a client protocol stack of a hybrid(Broadcast/Unicast) capable receiver to aid understanding of potentialuse cases;

FIG. 13 shows augmentation channel for increasing QoS of non-timed mediaassets that are delivered for storage on client side for later playback;

FIG. 14 diagram shows several use cases of NGBP IP Core network (BMX);

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a next generation (“Next Gen”) broadcast platform(“NGBP”) for terrestrial television broadcasting in the internet ageaccording to a first aspect of the invention. The basic concept providesa common virtualized IP Core network for broadcasters in local marketand or region. The IP Core network provides an interface to and acceptsIP Flows from broadcast licensee/s. The IP Flows contain encoded mediacontent composed and encapsulated using an application layer transportfor example MPEG Media Transport (MMT) for delivery of video, audio anddata content. The IP Core network contains an entity called a BroadcastMarket Exchange (“BMX”). The BMX may be implemented as software runningin a node of the IP Core network that enables broadcast licenses to havespectrum flexibility and market-based mechanisms to monetize (wholesale)excess spectrum capacity by entering into service level agreements (SLA)with other broadcasters or entities. Also, as the VHF/UHF broadcast bandspectrum isn't fungible, with the VHF band having physics propertiesthat are more commensurate to fixed service while the physics in UHFbroadcast band can more efficiently support nomadic services. The BMXoffers open market driven mechanisms to enable a broadcaster diversityor choice of the mix of service types (fixed/nomadic) independent oftheir FCC licensed frequency in either the (VHF/UHF) broadcast bandusing the services of the broadcast market exchange.

The outputs of IP Core Network are processed UDP/IP streams to a“broadcast” transmission network (VHF/UHF) band or TCP/IP streams to a“unicast” networks such as that of an Internet Service Provider (ISP),Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) or Mobile Network Operator(MNO). The broadcast network signal is received by both fixed andnomadic/mobile reception devices. The unicast network provides an IPconnection to either the home and or nomadic/mobile devices in theheterogeneous network shown under the control of the intelligence (BMX)in the IP core network. Using BMX, a broadcaster may have the option ofdiversity of services types and also control of multiple simultaneousdelivery channels and physical ‘bearer’ layers coordinated to increasethe consumer experience for multimedia services in the internet age.

The Broadcast Market Exchange (BMX) is created to enable the sharing andor aggregation of broadcast spectrum, the bit capacity generated and/orbroadcast transmission infrastructure (active and passive components) toreduce cost for broadcasters in a given geographic area, ranging from alocal basis, regional basis (e.g., a Designated Market Area (DMA)) to anational basis. The Broadcast Market Exchange can be responsible formanaging participating broadcasters pooled of spectrum resources in themost efficient and effective way in a wide variety of ways includingterms of service, revenue, (e.g., people served/MHz, revenue/MHz) andQuality of Service (QOS). The aggregation of spectrum and capacity undera Broadcast Market Exchange is through the voluntarycooperation/agreement of the broadcasters. Some broadcasters may preferto maintain the current broadcast model and or transition into newservices as the market demands. Therefore, the broadcast/broadbandconvergence network envisioned is designed to support all existingbusiness models as well as the new exchange business models that emergein future.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a broadcast licensee produces and or encodescontent into IP Flows that are sent across an interface into the IP Corenetwork where a Next Gen Broadcast (NGB) gateway under the managedcontrol of BMX entity is located. The NGB gateway pre-processes the IPFlows and provides a baseband IP signal as output (UDP/IP) to a definedmodulator interface in the broadcast transmission network. The basebandsignal created in the NGB gateway also contains control plane signalingdecoupled of the user data plane that enables the gateway as a masterand the modulator(s) as slave/s (multiple modulators in a SFN) toconstruct a physical layer OFDM frame using the cross-layer controlplane mechanism of the NGB gateway. The OFDM physical layer resourcesare provisioned and or assigned in the NGB gateway (located in IP Coremiles away from modulator/s) as logical baseband frames and output as IPflows which map directly into reserved physical layer resources astermed virtual physical layer pipe (PLP) structures, each withflexibility in selection of Channel coding, Constellation and timeInterleaving to enable a unique robustness and/or spectrum efficiencyunder the control of the broadcaster. These PLPs are then mapped ontoOFDM sub-carriers reserved in the NGB frame. The signal is converted toa RF waveform that is amplified and carried as a guided wave to the airinterface of the transmitting antenna.

The NGBP (IP Core Network) provides a unique Master/Slave (Cross Layer)relationship that puts the control of all physical layer resources intothe NGB gateway generally located miles away from the NGB modulators(transmitter sites). At the Air Interface of the transmitting antennathe guided RF wave enters the broadcast spectrum (today 2013, broadcastchannels 2-51 in the VHF and UHF bands). The broadcast spectrum is notfungible, as some parts of the UHF broadcast band are more efficient andpractical for Nomadic Tablet/Handheld type service and others (VHF) fora fixed type of service.

Without a broadcast market exchange (BMX) mechanism as provided by thepresent invention, a broadcaster is mainly limited by physics and/oreconomics as to the type of services they are able to bring to market.Spectrum is most valuable if used for the type of services dictated bythe RF physics in specific frequency bands. There is no one single partof the (VHF/UHF) broadcast band that supports all service typesefficiently. The general idea in legacy broadcast standards usually hasbeen that each broadcaster can provision both fixed and or nomadicservices in the same band using either time or frequency divisionmultiplexing schemes, etc. (“Nomadic service” is defined as adequaterobustness and a Doppler performance and having a frequency (wavelength)that enables embedded antennas in a nomadic device using known activeantenna techniques. The definition for fixed service is good spectrumefficiency and uses an external antenna. VHF can also be provisioned toserve mobile at high Doppler with external antennas on vehicles, buses,trains, etc.).

The conventional multiplexing of all service types in a single channelis a sub-optimal solution because it ignores the underlying RF physicswhich sets certain constraints which are real world engineeringchallenges that are usually difficult or impossible to overcome whilepreserving both spectrum efficiency and economics. The paradigm shiftintroduced by the BMX is that a broadcast licensee choosing toparticipate in the exchange is no longer constrained by physics butsenters an open market environment and spectrum use can be aligned withphysics which reaps efficiency. In a nutshell this enables market drivenuse of scarce resource (spectrum) and diversity of service types for allparticipating broadcasters.

FIG. 3 shows a high level view of IP Core network and the BMX concept.The encoded content IP flows from broadcast (i.e. VHF/UHF) licenseesenter the IP Core network, which has one or more NGB gatewayscontrolling all resources (e.g. either VHF NGB modulators or UHF NGBmodulators). After making management decisions the IP Core network (BMX)dynamically handles all signaling needed for discovery of content in theemitted waveform which will be received, decoded and content presentednatively as HTML5 elements of a web browser under total broadcastercontrol.

The BMX entity is implemented as software running in the IP Core networkthat defines the framework of the environment to give participatingbroadcasters an options for choice in service type via an open processwith pre-defined rules and procedures and with open verificationmechanisms and back office interfaces for commerce (similar to 3GPP LTEEPC today). The BMX can be a dynamic process and spectrum assets can betraded or wholesale service level agreements (SLA) established amongbroadcasters or other entities, now or in the future (scheduled). Thisfunctionality is well within the scope of known technology today as willbe explained further hereinafter. The model of an IP Core network is atthe center of new broadband communications system architectures such as3GPP LTE EPC (Evolved Packet Core) and it will help in harmonizing theNGBP to the web and also contains intelligence “data” on the viewingaudience for new business models normally outside the reach ofbroadcasters. With the rapid pace of technology today the BMX paradigmmay also give some relief or a new tool to regulators (FCC) charged tomanage technological change while ensuring competitive and efficient useof spectrum and serving the public interest. BMX can react instantly andbe openly verified were a regulatory rule making can take years and maythen be sub-optimal when implemented because technology has advancedagain.

A more detailed look at some of the pertinent Physical layer resourcesthat will be brought under control of BMX for provisioning is nowpresented. In FIG. 4, an OFDM (orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing) symbol in the frequency domain is shown, composed of (N)sub-carriers across some defined bandwidth (e.g., 6 MHz, 12 MHz, etc.).Some sub-carriers are not used on the channel edges or center channel(DC) these are shown at zero power. Some of the sub-carriers will beused as pilots to aide receiver synchronization and or channelestimation or other purposes, and these are shown as full power butgreyed and are consider provisioning overhead. All the remainingsub-carriers that can be provisioned to carry useful payload data fromthe IP Flows mapped in the form of PLP. It should be understood allprovisioning of physical layer resources happens in the NGB gateway(under BMX control) using the control plane to Modulator (slave) aspreviously mentioned. In the time domain as shown FIG. 4 is there is aNGB super frame that is exactly one second in duration. In the timedomain the design or selection of the correct symbol sampling frequencyis critical for the NGBP OFDM system to insure an integer number of OFDMsymbols per super frame. The design of BMX requires an integer number ofsymbols per frame to make the provisioning of the shared OFDM resourcesmore deterministic and manageable, than would result by having somefractional number of symbols per frame relationship and in time domain.Also, as will be seen later the super frame structure is aligned with aUTC seconds timeline which is available to all users accessing the IPCore to affect efficient timing of the IP Core network. FIG. 5 shows atable with an example of the OFDM parameters suitable to BMX thisrequirement. The design requires a constant symbol sampling frequency,shown as 12.288 MHz in FIG. 5 which is constant over all supportedbandwidths (5, 6, 10, and 12) MHz shown for example. The FFT sizes andcyclic prefix (CP) chosen as shown for examples in FIG. 5 result in aninteger number of symbols per frame and an integer number of symbols perone second super frame. Having an integer relationship is also criticalto support the NGBP Application Layer Transport timing by enabling theestablishment of a UTC clock in the broadcast receiver client to bediscussed later. One NGB Super Frame is composed of (N) payload symbolsand L1 and L2 symbols used for signaling, the total duration of all ofthese symbols must be summed to enable a NGB super frame one second induration. All pilots and signaling (L1/L2) are considered overhead inthe provisioning of a service. The number of payload symbols in timedomain is directly proportional to the value of the cyclic prefix chosenwhich is used to mitigate multipath in OFDM systems. Each payloadsub-carrier is a resource element that can support a given robustnessdescribed by the constellation size chosen, say 16 QAM and a FEC coderate say 3/5 FEC as only one example. It is a straightforwardcalculation in NGB gateway to determine how many payload sub-carrierresource elements (sub-carriers) are needed to support a given IP Flow(PLP) at a given input data rate for a given robustness, etc. whendealing in integers.

The total number of useful payload sub-carriers assigned to various BMXusers to provide a type of service (nomadic/fixed) is virtualized andall BMX users remain totally isolated, competitive and independent whilesharing spectrum resources more efficiently. Each broadcast licenseewould have total freedom in selecting the PLP parameters' “robustness”for their nomadic and or fixed services. They may use up to their totalallotment of useful “global” payload subcarriers (across VHF/UHF) bandwhich is directly proportional to the amount of spectrum the licenseehas contributed to the BMX broadcast spectrum pool (minus overhead toprovision which is shared by all) and credits purchased and or traded inthe exchange, the BMX keeps track of this commerce in real-time, andspectrum becomes a commodity.

For one example, a broadcaster's business model could include fixedservices to the home at certain times of the day or even for a specialevent in UHDTV. As an example the special event could be scheduled andcredits could be established with BMX or other market based mechanismsused to ensure this event capacity is scheduled and available. This typeof flexibility was never envisioned when broadcast spectrum rules werefirst promulgated so modernizing of the FCC command and control rulesand regulations will be required and must be including in new flexiblespectrum use negotiated by broadcasters for the internet age.

FIG. 6 shows one example of the shared broadcast transmission networkfor UHF spectrum aggregation under control of BMX. There are four 12 MHzNGB modulators under the control of a single UHF NGB gateway undercontrol of BMX entity in the IP Core Network. The 12 MHz bandwidthblocks could be either contiguous or separated UHF spectrum blocks. Asshown, active and passive transmission components are co-located andshared. This sharing of both active/passive components could bring realeconomic savings in capital and operational expenditures. The sharing ofthe broadband antennas at a common emission point would enable a“receive one-receive all” reception model and this is very consumerfriendly. The 48 MHz of shared spectrum resources shown of this one UHFsite could conservatively support an aggregated 100 Mbps of payload forbroadcast nomadic services in a market.

FIG. 7 illustrates the NGBP and the IP Core Network entities in moredetail that is needed to support broadcast/unicast services inaccordance with the invention. These are as follows:

-   -   Input IP Router—under control of BMX entity routes MMT IP Flows        to a NGB GW that is dependent on service type and enables        dynamic market driven spectrum sharing;    -   NGB-GW—NGB gateway receives control from BMX and pre-processes        the IP Flows and provides a baseband IP signal output to a        defined modulator interface in the broadcast transmission        network. The baseband signal created in the NGB gateway also        contains control plane signaling that enables the gateway as a        master and the modulator(s) as slave/s to construct a physical        layer OFDM frame using the cross-layer control mechanism of the        NGB gateway. The bandwidth under NGB GW to be provisioned is        assigned by BMX;    -   PCRF—Policy Charging Rules Function is a node designated in        real-time to determine policy rules under control of BMX it        operates at the network core and accesses subscriber databases        (HSS) and other specialized functions, such as the online        charging system (OCS), in a centralized manner in IP Core;    -   PCEF—embedded in NGB-GW performs (Policy Charging Enforcement        Function) identifies all IP Flows based on real-time Deep Packet        Inspection (MMT Asset ID, etc. unique to each user). Helps to        monetize network by supporting OCS and ensures open fair usage        of shared spectrum and enables confidence and trust in the        Broadcast Market Exchange. A broadcast licensee (user) can see        in Real-time (via dash board) quantity of sub-carriers being        used and robustness (QOS). All of the broadcaster account        information is available from the broadcast market exchange via        an interface on a secure dash board;    -   BMX—Broadcaster Market Exchange is the master entity in charge        and contains agreed policy rules and service level agreements        (SLAs) and grants users access over well-defined interface. The        BMX communicates (schedules IP Flows) with Traffic and        Automation system at local station or play out center        participating in BMX;    -   HSS—Home Subscriber Server is main database of users of NGBP a        repository of user data, and content consumed/watched (ratings),        premium services subscribed to, etc;    -   AAA—Authentication Authorization Accounting is a database to        enable registered NGBP user's access over any IP Unicast access        Network 802.xx, etc.;    -   OCS—On-Line Charging System, tracks Service level Agreements and        usage and charges and Interfaces to Back Office for commerce;    -   Interworking Interface—to interwork with other BMX entities in        other IP Core networks in other markets or regions in country.        Each receiver device contains a SIM card and when device        purchased the user registers the device with the home BMX and        the user personal data is stored in HSS. When a user roams        outside home BMX market (get off airplane with a nomadic device)        the interworking in addition to data stored on SIM ensures        continuity of service and enforcement of any geographic content        right agreements from content producers, etc.;    -   Trusted Access Gateway (TAG)—the TAG is used to grant access to        authorized users over TCP/IP unicast connections. The TAG uses        the AAA that authenticates and authorizes user access from        external IP networks (Internet) or unicast MMT/TCP/IP;    -   Home Gateway with Storage—A data modem and ISP provides OTT        (Over The Top) TCP/IP connectivity to the Home Gateway, the        BMX/Broadcaster manages the BMX Home Gateway (has SIM card) and        can be to establish as anchor point in the home for        personalization of services and side loading content and        advertising. The BMX home gateway has Wi-Fi and can synchronize        content on a nomadic receiver when entering home that is        registered in BMX and has a binding with home gateway. The BMX        Home Gateway has an antenna and a NGB broadcast receiver and can        receive broadcast and unicast services in heterogeneous network;

FIG. 8 shows a model the application layer transport that is beingstandardized in MPEG as ISO/IEC 23008 Part 1; MPEG Media Transport (MMT)which is due to be completed in 2014. MMT is a new media transport beingdeveloped to support Server driven broadcast (Push) services and unicast(Pull) services of both timed and untimed multimedia content overheterogeneous networks including broadcast and unicast networks. MMTsupports W3C HTML5 w/extensions for presentation description on a clientdevice having a HTML5 web browser without using plugins for Video/Audio.This could enable more ubiquitous access in next generation broadcastingand enable support of many new W3C web tools to become more aligned withbroadcast and keep pace with other media in the internet age. On theclient display the spatial and temporal relationships of all timed MMTAssets (Video, Audio, and Data) are described by the MMT CompositionInformation (CI) signaling (HTML5 extensions) and an by the Assetpresentation time stamps that are referenced to a presentation time line(UTC) to enable synchronized choreographed playback of all MMT assets ona client device at the presentation time (indicated by time stamp) by aweb browser engine even when the assets are delivered to the client overdifferent networks, or delivered in advanced and stored locally onclient, etc. Also, each spatial/temporal asset area on the display(Video, Audio, or Data) can be independently updated and decoupled fromthe other media assets of the broadcaster choreographed presentation andmay be delivered by independent channels that all referenced a commonUTC presentation time line to create a new web like paradigm for theNGBP and enable convergence of broadcast and broadband in the internetage with many new business models, some of which will be discussedlater.

In the MMT standard the presentation time line is shown in FIG. 8. Thepresentation timeline is based on the assumption that a common UTC clockreference is available at both the sending and receiving (client) sideof the delivery channel. The MMT standard states that the clock of theMMT entities shall synchronize with the UTC by some means. For example,by NTP or PTP, as specified in RFC 5905 and IEEE 1588 respectively maybe used. This UTC clock requirement means that a unicast connection mustbe available at the MMT client to use either NTP or PTP method. This isvery troubling in that a broadcast channel is supported in MMT but onlyin the presence of a unicast channel to establish a UTC clock referencein the client. This can serious constrain the next gen broadcast nomadicclient device from using MMT unless it has some form of IP unicastconnection, etc. FIG. 8 shows that a UTC clock can be established in theclient using unicast (NTP, PTP) according to MMT standard, or a Newbroadcast channel method can be used to enable truly broadcast onlyoperation under MMT by establishing a UTC clock in broadcast client overthe broadcast channel only. This is part of the present invention andwill be described next. It should be understood that this method to bedescribed of establishing an accurate UTC clock in the broadcast clientcan be used to solve the problem or constraint in MMT to enablebroadcast only operation but should be also useful for many otherapplications requiring UTC time to be served over a broadcast channel toa receiving client.

FIG. 9 shows the block diagram to be used to describe the transmissionside of the new method for serving UTC time over the broadcast channel.The NGB OFDM super frame structure is shown and begins with L1, L2signaling symbols followed by (N) payload symbols and the super frame isset to exactly 1 second in duration. The scheduler (part of NGBModulator) has a GPS receiver and has a 1PPS (One Pulse Per Second)timing reference available that is by definition also aligned to the UTCsecond cadence. The scheduler then adjusts or controls the emissiontiming so that the start of a super frame (L1) at the air interface ofthe transmitting antenna is aligned with the GPS 1PPS rising edge ofpulse as shown. Once this timing is set every super frame (exactly onesecond in duration) has the beginning of the (L1) symbol aligned to theGPS 1PPS cadence. Next in the IP Core network the NGB gateway issynchronized to UTC time by a Stratum 1 NTP server as shown or by otherequivalent mechanisms. The NGB gateway sends the modulator scheduler thecurrent UTC time information correlated with beginning of current superframe that the scheduler is being instructed to build over the controlplane as shown. The scheduler then inserts current UTC time informationas part of the L2 signaling information and this is carried in L2 symbolportion of a super frame as shown. So the start of super frame (L1) istime aligned with the GPS 1PPS cadence at the transmitting antenna airinterface and the (L2) symbol carries the UTC time at start of currentsuper frame (beginning of L1). The physical layer emission timing islocked to GPS 1PPS which by definition is aligned with the UTC secondcadence. The GPS timing has the attribute of no leap seconds and isappropriate for stable physical layer timing synchronization in thebroadcast transmission network.

FIG. 10 shows the client side for establishing UTC time at the client.There is shown two super frames (N) and (N+1) in flight to the NGBbroadcast receiver from the transmitting antenna. The client canestablish a UTC clock by slaving to the emitted broadcast signal asdiscussed below. It is assumed the client is initially asynchronous toUTC and detects super frame (N) shown and the UTC time information (L2)is decoded and extracted and the UTC second count is incremented by 1second and then stored in memory shown. The receiver then waits for thenext start of a super frame (N+1), when this L1 symbol is detected atthat exact instant the UTC time is jam loaded from memory into theclient UTC clock counter. The correct accurate UTC time is thenavailable at the client. Since, a radio wave propagates ˜1 mile in 5 μs,a broadcast client located 20 miles from the transmitter only has anerror of 100 μs and is well within the tolerance needed. In fact this isorders of magnitude more accurate than can be achieved from NTP on thepublic internet. Once, synchronized the client remains slaved tobroadcast signal and can resynchronize quickly if needed. This means ifa nomadic broadcast client is away from a unicast connection or ispowered up on a plane that just landed in a different BMX city the UTCclock would be quickly set in that time zone, etc. depending on userdata stored in SIM as mentioned earlier (gives users rights in that BMXmarket) multimedia presentations can begin immediately under BMX controland this is very consumer friendly. This method doesn't prohibit usingother sources of UTC time for MMT such as NTP when deep indoors andbroadcast signal is unavailable and then MMT content could be servedover unicast, Wi-Fi, etc. by the IP core network of broadcaster BMX. Thehigh power transmitted signal that covers a large area using veryrobustly coded L1, L2 signaling will be more robust than the contentbroadcast making the application of broadcast UTC time attractive formany other possible applications. It is also envisioned that GPSreceivers with rubidium holdover could be used for timing on the IP Coreand broadcast network. The cost of this technology is minimal today andwould more importantly keep the broadcast network as a life line to thepublic and to others if the GPS was jammed in a city someday as part ofa terroristic event, not unthinkable in the world we live in today.

FIG. 11 shows a block diagram to help explain the NGBP application layertransport timing in a heterogeneous network that is comprised ofbroadcast and unicast delivered content once a reliable UTC clockreference is established at both server and client side to enable acommon presentation timeline to which time stamps will be correlated.The application layer timing in the heterogeneous networks can beadjusted for various purposes including establishing an offset time toenable receive diversity, etc. But, for now to introduce the timingconcept it is assumed we want to achieve synchronous presentation of theexact same media content broadcast MMT/UDP/IP over the air to a nomadicdevice and unicast MMT/TCP/IP via an ISP to a BMX home gateway withattached display shown. That is the Video/Audio of the exact samecontent is presented synchronously on both client devices. First theunicast MMT/TCP/IP channel via an ISP will be discussed. Since, this islocal broadcasting an ISP within the coverage area would be used. TheMMT standard describes a Hypothetical Receiver Buffer Model (HRBM) thatis modeled at the MMT sending entity (shown) to determine the buffersize and the buffering delay.DELTA., so that no packets are dropped dueto buffer overflow, assuming a maximum delivery delay in the targetpath. The maximum delivery delay needs to be larger than the actualdelivery delay and can be estimated by in HRBM by pinging, etc. Once,max delay and a buffer is established at server and signaled to client.A UTC timestamp with the actual release time (UTC) of packet is sentfrom server (shown) to client. The client observes UTC time it receivedthe timestamp (Client UTC Clock) and subtracts the value of timestampsent from server indicated in the packet to get the actual transportdelay time. This is used to manage the buffer at client and to ensure aconstant end to end delay is established which is known at the serverside. At the MMT sending entity (HRBM) guarantees that packets thatexperience a transmission delay below a set threshold (max delay) willbe delivered to the upper layer after a constant delay and withoutcausing the MMT receiving entity buffer to underflow or overflow. InFIG. 11 it is shown the server side has a UTC clock established and byknowing the max delay time established in the unicast transport theserver side can back time the release of content (assets) into unicasttransport channel to ensure they are in the receiver (client) buffer andare removed and displayed at the instant indicated by the presentationtime stamps inserted by the MMT application layer transport. Now thebroadcast channel application layer transport timing will be discussed.The NGB gateway must first estimate the max transport delay between whena packet leaves the NGB gateway to the arrival at the air interface oftransmitter antenna, this is done when the network is provisioned andthese various component delays can be measured, calculated and orestimated using known techniques similar to those employed inestablishing the value of max delay and timing in provisioning of abroadcast single frequency network (SFN) and will not be discussed. Thistotal max delay estimate must be longer than the actual delay and can bemeasured, calculated and or estimated as previously stated. This methodresult is somewhat similar to HRBM method (unicast) except that pingingto determine delay isn't possible, in broadcast it must be calculatedand then a margin included for any wander and or jitter in the totaltransport network expected. Note this could include a satellitetransport path to the transmitter site. The NGB gateway would have a maxprocessing delay time known and this is announced to the MMT server sideby NGB gateway. The NGB GW max processing delay is then added to the MaxDelay value measured, calculated and or estimated to guarantee that apacket can then be backed timed in the MMT server side. A packet thenmust be release to the NGB GW for processing before the actualpresentation time (UTC) indicated by MMT asset time stamp minus (NGB MaxProcessing Delay+Max Delay measured, calculated and or estimated to airinterface antenna). Given this timing constraint the broadcast clientwill set a buffer size and manage buffer and will pass MMT assets up thestack to the be displayed at the UTC presentation time indicated by MMTpresentation time stamps carried in the application layer transport. Thedisplay of common content in FIG. 11 sent using unicast and broadcastchannels given the timing methodology mentioned will be synchronouslypresented by a common UTC presentation time line established usingunicast and or broadcast methods. It should be realized a Cable MSO intheir role of broadband service provider (ISP) could transport NGB IPpackets as just another heterogeneous network in the design. The NGBPheterogeneous network will give more choice for the consumer in an openmarket.

FIG. 12 shows a high level block diagram of a possible receiver clientprotocol stack envisioned for next gen broadcasting in the internet age.This is discussed briefly to aid the understanding of potential usecases to be presented. FIG. 12 is the client side view of aheterogeneous network comprising both Broadcast and Unicast channels andalso non-timed media assets sent in advance and (Cached) and thenremoved from cache and decoded and all assets synchronouslychoreographed for presentation on a display by a HTML5 web browserengine. The client device uses methods to establish a UTC clockdiscussed earlier and can receive either the broadcast or unicastchannels independently or both collectively including media assetsreceived and stored in local client cache to enhance or personalize thepresentation for the individual user with intelligence (user data)stored in the IP Core network discussed. In fact the media assets thatcomprise a multimedia presentation (TV program) can be choreographedunder broadcaster control and media assets pulled from web servers,pushed (live) using broadcast and even blended with stored local contentto create a synchronous rich presentation on the UTC presentationtimeline. The reserved spatial/temporal media asset areas of the displaycan be updated independently over various channels and this web typefunctionality is a paradigm shift from current broadcast technology andproduction methods were all media is brought together in one location(local TV station) and combined (multiplexed) into a totally sealedcohesive TV package that is broadcast and instantly consumed or storedon DVR for later consumption. The media assets a user receives (underbroadcaster control) could be specific to language, location, income,personal interest, etc. and be different than other users though themain video content area of display can be the same. Starting with thebroadcast physical/mac layer and stack IP/UDP/MMT media assets can bedelivered up along with signaling and timing information to ensure timedmedia presentation and or non-timed media assets can be cached for laterpresentation on UTC timeline using metadata (signaling) of asset ID inbroadcast stream to trigger presentation of stored assets. The unicastchannel works essentially the same way with IP/TCP/MMT as the stack todeliver up media assets signaling and timing for timed media ornon-timed media can be cached. The multimedia assets and or datadelivered in advance and cached can be consider an Augmentation channelto support and or enhance the main presentation (program) and this couldinclude targeting ads even programmatic ads (sold to highest bidder inreal-time) for the synchronous insertion in the UTC presentationtimeline (commercial break), personalized news and entertainment, etc.appearing in a designated spatial/temporal area of the display screenunder control of user interaction enabled by broadcaster or the entityproviding content or advertising or leasing the channel during some timeperiod. This new TV paradigm and web tools needs to be understood andembraced by the TV creative community to understand its true potentialand to evolve broadcasting in the internet age. But, those familiar withW3C web tools should grasp these concepts easy. This opens more degreesof freedom to explore new use cases for NGBP and augmentation channelsas will be discussed next.

Also, it should be noted that the MPEG standard ISO/IEC 23008 Part 1;MPEG Media Transport (MMT) which is due to be completed in 2014 will beharmonize by extension to support broadcast/multicast delivery ofMPEG-DASH standard ISO/IEC 23009 segments without using HTTP byintroducing the MMT “Generic Mode” object. This will create even moresynergy between broadcast and DASH online streaming media and thepossibilities of a NGBP, but this will not be discussed herein. Alsonote-worthy is the work just starting in IEEE in 2014 on a projectcalled Omni-Ran that will provide well defined interfaces and theopportunity to enabled managed unicast support by the IP Core (BMX) on802.xx access networks and this is envisioned to be very synergistic aswell to NGBP and IP Core network but will not be discussed herein.

FIG. 13 shows the first augmentation channel use case to be discussed.This involves increasing QoS of non-timed media assets that aredelivered for storage on client side for later playback synchronous toUTC application layer transport timeline or asynchronously forconsumption by user. Asynchronous consumption could be stored fulllength programs or movies with targeted ads inserted on playback and orpersonalized news, games etc. The stored media assets can also beremoved from storage and played synchronously to the UTC presentationtimeline as an element of a broadcast program under the new paradigm aspreviously mentioned. The problem to be solved here is that somefragments of media assets may arrive with noise induced errors in thebroadcast channel that isn't corrected by the FEC in the receiver. Thisis a huge problem especially for data files were all bytes must besuccessfully received to complete a file download and or for theseamless presentation of multimedia assets stored. Therefore a method toguarantee error free media asset file fragment delivery is needed forstored assets without user intervention. The hybrid nomadic receivershown has storage and the receiver can detect a missing file fragmentthis is shown as step 1. The file fragment missing can be explicitlyidentified at the receiver by using asset id and header information suchas fragment count and the exact UTC time the missing asset wasdiscovered. Step 2 the receiver explicitly request re-transmission ofany missing fragments which are stored in a broadcast mirror cache atthe application layer on server side. Step 3, the requested fragmentsare then sent via TCP/IP to receiver. The broadcast assets stored inmirror cache are available immediately after they are broadcast and forsome period of time thereafter, seconds, minutes, hours or days (set bybroadcaster) to allow the receiver ample time to retrieve missingfragments when receiver next enters a Wi-Fi hotspot if a permanentwireless connection isn't available (LTE). (longer retrieve times couldbe useful for movies delivered for later consumption) Step 4 thereceiver uses missing media file fragments to complete the file transferwhich would be absolutely required for a game or App downloaded. Beingable to use broadcast one to many (potentially to millions of users) todeliver high demand content and or data or Apps just to mention a fewbecomes a huge opportunity. If a guarantee delivery without userintervention can be assured (by unicast and mechanism described) thisopens many new opportunities for broadcast in the internet age. Morespecific a large file (GBytes) of high demand content can be broadcastand may only need a small number of fragments re-transmitted and thiscould take tremendous load off of the wireless (LTE) networks as oneexample. The interworking envisioned in the NGBP IP Core network underBMX can enable such possibilities that may become prudent businessdecisions in the future.

FIG. 14 includes a high level view of several potential use cases, someof which will be briefly described. This represent a paradigm shift forterrestrial broadcasting over heterogeneous networks in the internet ageand is described so those skilled in the art may realize the utility ofthe IP Core network (BMX) invention. It has been described how timed andnon-timed media assets can be delivered and presented by an HTML5 webbrowser client delivered over a next gen broadcast application layertransport in the internet age. Fully embracing W3C web tools in a newNGBP ecosystem to create a compelling user experience that keeps pacewith the internet at a reasonable cost is the goal for broadcasting inthe internet age. Broadcasters can then ride the rapid pace oftechnological innovation of the web. HTML5 treats video and audio asnative elements (no plug-in) and offers rich new tools and a programenvironment including powerful HTML5 API's to enable web developers tocreate HTML5 Apps for the web. These tools and APIs can be found on W3Cwebsite or any number of books discussing HTML5 and will not bediscussed in detail herein. We have created a NGBP with IP Core networkthat can fully leverage some of these HTML5 tools and enable abroadcaster and or trusted third party HTML5 developers to develop HTML5NGBP TV Apps. These HTML5 Apps can be developed and tested and also mayleverage the new exposed API's by BMX from intelligence in the databasesof BMX. Also data can be pushed and stored in the IP Core over a trustedsecure interface to enable the Apps to then call BMX API's from theclient for data, and also to receive BMX network services likecompletion of App transactions (sales), etc. using back office interfaceof IP Core network. Also, customized applications can be developed byadvertisers and or new forms of TV entertainment authored by TVproducers with data stored in IP Core and or broadcast and cached onclient device in advance. Let's assume a HTML5 NGBP TV web App isdeveloped by a broadcaster and downloaded (broadcast/Unicast) to HTML5client in receiver device with storage attached as shown. The user canthen click on APP or it could it could be tightly integrated withcontent authored and trigger in broadcast stream and be displayed in adesigned spatial/temporal asset area of display. The user can theninteract with the app and or participate in new forms of social TVprogramming that could be personalized for you and your group of friendsand include chat and or other forms of communications between friends.It really comes down to what is possible with software and web tools andthe cloud today. An HTML5 TV App authored with Facebook and or TwitterAPI's could be used to more socialize TV and programming in the future.Also, programmatic ads could generate revenue for broadcasters. Thesecure interface and storage shown in IP Core could also enableadvertisers to pre-load ad inventory for storage. Then real-timeprogrammatic ads (bidding) through automation becomes possible in BMX byenabling local station spot availabilities to appear on the “Dash Board”of the programmatic buyer which uses basic web tools. The advertiser canbuy and select time for commercial ad insertion with a click of mouseand this spot is then broadcast and unicast and cached and synchronouslyinserted in the programming UTC time line. Keeping their audiencesentertained and safe (news and approaching weather) is at the heart ofbroadcasting for last 60 years. The interfaces shown to Home LandSecurity and of First Net could also enable new ways of keeping thepublic safe when mobile and an emergency is unfolding by authoritiesreaching people in harms-way using geo-tagged information as oneexample. Also, First Net could use NGBP network services to broadcastlarge encrypted content such as video and imagery for private publicsafety use. These are just some use case examples and many more isbelieved possible once the NGBP and BMX become well understood bypotential users.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a broadcast gateway locatedin an Internet Protocol (IP) core network, wherein the broadcast gatewayis configured to: receive content from a plurality of content providers;generate a system timestamp based on a time signal; and generate abaseband signal including a user plane signal and a control planesignal, the user plane signal including the content from the pluralityof content providers, and the control plane signal including the systemtimestamp; and a plurality of broadcast modulators located in a SingleFrequency Network (SFN), wherein each broadcast modulator of theplurality of broadcast modulators is configured to: receive the basebandsignal from the broadcast gateway; receive a clock pulse; generate abroadcast superframe by modeling of a physical layer based on thecontrol plane signal of the baseband signal using a cross-layer controlmechanism of the broadcast gateway; and transmit the broadcastsuperframe via a plurality of broadcast transmitters, wherein a start oftransmission of the broadcast superframe is aligned with a rising edgeof the clock pulse.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the broadcastsuperframe is an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)frame.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the broadcast gateway isfurther configured to add a known delay to the system timestamp to alignthe system timestamp with a time of the rising edge of the clock pulseand generate a calibrated system timestamp, and wherein the controlplane signal includes the calibrated system timestamp.
 4. The system ofclaim 3, wherein the broadcast superframe includes a first header, asecond header, and a payload, the second header including the calibratedsystem timestamp.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the broadcastmodulator transmits the first header of the broadcast superframe beforethe second header, and transmits the second header of the broadcastsuperframe before the payload of the broadcast superframe.
 6. The systemof claim 1, wherein the broadcast gateway is further configured toreceive the time signal from a Stratum 1 Network Timing Protocol (NTP)server.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the broadcast gateway iscoupled to a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, and the broadcastgateway is further configured to receive the time signal from the GPSreceiver.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the broadcast modulator iscoupled to a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, and the clockpulse is a One Pulse Per Second (1PPS) signal received from the GPSreceiver, and wherein the broadcast superframe has a duration of 1second.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the broadcast gateway isfurther configured to send the baseband signal as a universal datagramprotocol (UDP) flow to the broadcast modulator.
 10. The system of claim1, wherein the content includes a plurality of IP flows, each IP flow ofthe plurality of IP flows being associated with a content provider ofthe plurality of content providers.
 11. The system of claim 10, whereinthe broadcast gateway is further configured to: determine a mapping ofthe plurality of IP flows to physical layer resources of the broadcastsuperframe, wherein the control plane signal further includes themapping; and map the plurality of IP flows to Orthogonal FrequencyDivision Multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers of the broadcast superframebased on the mapping.
 12. A method, comprising: generating, at abroadcast gateway, a system timestamp from a time signal; receiving, atthe broadcast gateway, content from a plurality of content providers;generating, at the broadcast gateway, a baseband signal including a userplane signal and a control plane signal, the user plane signal includingcontent from a plurality of content providers, and the control planesignal including the system timestamp, wherein the control plane signalis decoupled from the user plane signal; generating, at a broadcastmodulator of a plurality of broadcast modulators, a broadcast superframeby modeling of a physical layer based on the control plane signal of thebaseband signal using a cross-layer control mechanism of the broadcastgateway; receiving, at the broadcast modulator, a clock pulse; andtransmitting, from the broadcast modulator, the broadcast superframe,wherein the transmitting is aligned with a rising edge of the clockpulse, wherein the broadcast gateway is located in an Internet Protocol(IP) core network, and wherein the plurality of broadcast modulators arelocated in a Single Frequency Network (SFN).
 13. The method of claim 12,further comprising adding, at the broadcast gateway, a known delay tothe system timestamp to align the system timestamp with a time of therising edge of the clock pulse; and generating, at the broadcastgateway, a calibrated timestamp, wherein the control plane signalincludes the calibrated system timestamp.
 14. The method of claim 13,wherein the broadcast superframe includes a first header, a secondheader, and a payload, the second header including the calibrated systemtimestamp.
 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising: transmittingthe first header of the broadcast superframe before the second header,and transmitting the second header of the broadcast superframe beforethe payload of the broadcast superframe.
 16. The method of claim 12,wherein the broadcast superframe has a length of one second.
 17. Themethod of claim 12, wherein the clock pulse is a One Pulse Per Second(1PPS) signal received from a global positioning system (GPS) receiver,and wherein the broadcast superframe has a duration of 1 second.
 18. Themethod of claim 12, further comprising: receiving, at the broadcastgateway, a plurality of IP flows, each IP flow of the plurality of IPflows corresponding to a content provider of the plurality of contentproviders, and mapping, at the broadcast gateway, the plurality of IPflows to Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriersof the broadcast superframe.
 19. The method of claim 12, furthercomprising receiving the time signal from a global positioning system(GPS) receiver.
 20. The method of claim 12, further comprising receivingthe time signal from a Stratum 1 Network Timing Protocol (NTP) server.